little man

holy cow.

my toddler is growing into a little man.

he is almost 19 months old already, and takes every opportunity he can to express his independence to us. 

while he still makes an adorable subject to photograph......

it is very difficult to get him to sit still.  

and look at the camera?  what for?

he enjoyed trying out his easter outfit....and he really likes the hat.

cowboys wear hats, so wearing one makes him just one step closer to his beloved horsies.  ;)

gosh i love this time of year.  the colors sure are fun to capture in my camera!

happy spring everyone!

going to feed the horses!

hendrix horse obsession is still alive and strong.  he insists that we buy carrots every time we are at the grocery store, just to feed to the horses.  and then he has to hold them in the car on the way there, yelling horsey, the entire ride.

his love for horses has encouraged a love for carrots though, so i can't really complain about that.  i think that he wonders if he can eat enough carrots to turn into a horse...... ;)  we also feed carrots to his rocking horse, and his stuffed horse.  gotta share the love!

he is also getting more and more daring about the horses.  at first he was fascinated but a little frightened by how large they were.  he wanted to be held, and didn't really want to touch them.

now he feeds them all by himself, and sometimes scares me as he seems fearless of their teeth.  

we have to walk around and say hi to all the horses before we leave (which there are currently probably over 20 at the stables on campus, including 6 or 7 baby horses), oh and he knows the difference between the momma horses, the daddy horse, and the colts, and calls them accordingly.   

he is never ready to leave.  while he has gotten a bit better with goodbyes each time, it is generally a battle to get him buckled into his carseat after seeing the horses.  he has mastered the arched back and is very strong.

i am so glad that he is so passionate about something, and really it has been fun for me to learn more about horses.  they never really caught my interest before.

it has become somewhat of a tradition that whenever we have family or friends in town, we take them with us to feed the horses.  it is always fun to share his enthusiasm, and i think everyone enjoys watching him!

backyard bbq

the weather has been absolutely gorgeous and we celebrated that last week by dusting off our grill and enjoying our first outdoor meal of the season! 

We have a screened-in porch and plenty of outdoor seating to make it comfortable to bbq, and it is one of our favorite activites.  Turns out hendrix thinks it is alot of fun too, though somewhat distracting....

He was thrilled to help daddy cook, chatter at the neighbor's dog, climb around on the lawn chair, and play with his corn on the cob.  Eating, well that didn't really happen......maybe after a couple times he will get used to the experience and get down to business! 

I was so excited to eat corn, and it did not disappoint!  

Now that shorts season is here, hendrix is going to have to learn a more graceful way to climb up and down our cement steps, or his poor legs are going to look like this all summer.

Now that spring is really here, i guess we better start thinking about our garden. Wanna fill this little boy's belly up with fresh vegetables this summer!  yum ;)

Happy spring! 

day at the zoo

i took hendrix to the zoo yesterday and we had a blast!

he loved climbing on everything, and checking out all the animals.

we bumped into some friends, and ended up wandering around the zoo with them, but hendrix was never really ready to move from one animal on to the next.  he had to have said "more" over a hundred times while we were there!  he was especially fascinated with the big cats - tigers, leopards and lions.

oh and he really tried to climb into the pool with the sea lions.  

there were lots of different birds along with the big cats, but most of the other animals weren't out yet for the season.  we are most definitely going to have to plan a return trip soon!

this kid loves animals!

wordless wednesday {spring toes}

to celebrate the 75 degree temperatures yesterday, i bought hendrix his first pair of flip flops (which he fondly refers to as his "ships")

he spent some time at my mom and dad's house yesterday while i went to an appointment, and when i came back he was driving around the driveway in this little car.  he's not spoiled a bit. ;)

this weather couldn't be better timed, as we are on spring break this week.  we are planning a day at the zoo today.....can't wait to see what he thinks of all the animals! 

he's such a happy boy!

linking up with: 

love-bug-blog, flip flops & pearls, and then-she snapped, 

& jenni from the blog

toddlers at weddings

yesterday we had a wedding to attend.  

the groom was a former student of my hubby's from when he was a teaching assistant, and i didn't know him or the bride, so i was unsure about how welcomed my toddler would be at this ceremony. 

turned out he wasn't the only child, and he took quite a liking to another little boy, max.  he did a pretty good job during the ceremony, practicing his new-found ability to "shush" people (which actually makes quite a bit of noise, of course).

he loved the lemonade, but wouldn't touch any of the food.  it was chicken, pasta salad and cheesy potatoes, nothing too foreign, but he had much more important things to do.

these boys just got to going so fast and so hard, that his little cheeks turned bright red!  it was fun to see him interacting with other kids and making friends so easily.

oh and his lil' bowtie shirt got tons of compliments!  

here he is tearing up the dance floor to a little 'hokey-pokey'.  

that was a new one for him. 

he catches on quickly! ;)

don't forget the cake......isn't that the best part of a wedding?!?!

i have always loved weddings, but now i have a whole new reason to enjoy them.  can't wait for my brother's wedding this summer......he is going to have a ball!